Sexually harassed Ambulance Victoria staff to receive compensation and apology

Ambulance Victoria employees who have been sexually harassed, bullied and discriminated against in the workforce will be able to seek compensation and an apology through a new scheme.

It follows revelations in this masthead in 2020 that female Ambulance Victoria paramedics were told not to have children if they wanted their careers to progress, and warned they would be useless in intensive care units once they had “used their uterus”. They spoke of a culture of rampant sexism, discrimination and gender-based bullying.

A new restorative scheme will provide compensation and an apology to Ambulance Victoria staff who have been sexually harassed and discriminated against in the workplace.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Minister for Ambulance Services Gabrielle Williams said she hoped the new independent restorative scheme, which was announced by the state government on Wednesday and will begin next year, would help rebuild trust and improve the culture at the state ambulance service.

“This restorative process is about listening, acknowledging and responding to the harm caused to anyone that was discriminated against or who experienced sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation,” Williams said.

It is not known how much the scheme will cost, what might be paid out in compensation, and how it will operate alongside existing workplace insurance schemes such as WorkCover.

It’s expected to run for 18 months and will offer a range of options to current and former employees and volunteers including apologies, statements of regret, financial compensation and restorative sessions with senior leaders.

The scheme was a recommendation of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, which published a 2021 report that detailed widespread allegations of incivility, disrespect, discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at Ambulance Victoria. Of the 2163 people who responded to the commission’s survey, almost half reported experiencing discrimination of some kind.

A dozen employees had reported rape or attempted rape or sexual assault at work, while 350 people said they were still experiencing unlawful conduct.

Advanced life paramedic Rasa Piggott outlined alleged instances of discrimination, abuse and “horrible instances of sexual misconduct” in her workplace in an open letter to Ambulance Victoria in 2020.

She told this masthead on Wednesday that she hoped the scheme extended to paramedic university students, and the loved ones of employees and students who have been indirectly harmed.

Whistleblower Rasa Piggott wrote an open letter to then-Ambulance Victoria CEO Tony Walker and board chair Ken Lay in October 2020 that triggered a sweeping inquiry into sexual harassment and discrimination. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Victoria Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill welcomed the announcement and said he hoped the scheme would help address the ongoing trauma experienced by Ambulance Victoria employees who had been discriminated against. He said while there had been some improvements to the culture at the ambulance service, morale was at an all-time low.

He said the organisation needed to offer more workplace flexibility to people who worked part-time or had caring responsibilities.

“It is all well and good to have glossy brochures, but none of that goes very far when members are crushed by the workload,” he said.

“It’s all good to say you are a flexible employer, but if you have someone who needs to finish their shift on time to pick up their children and that is met with an argument, then that’s a problem.”

One paramedic who spoke to The Age in 2020 said she had witnessed a female colleague being sexually harassed by a male colleague while the woman was giving cardiac compression to a dying patient.

“He looked at her butt moving and said, ‘Oh the view is pretty good from up here’ – he was breathing for the patient – I remember being horrified because the family was in the room at the time. He’s quite high up now,” she said.

Others reported an incident in which a young first responder travelling with a manager in a remote region was told he could “tie you to a tree and rape you”.

Staff told the commission’s inquiry that it was extremely difficult to arrange for flexible work arrangements for parents, “most of whom are women”.

Others said they felt the organisation’s culture was “unsafe” for those who were not white men.

Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Ro Allen also welcomed the announcement, and said the first phase of their review had “heard from many … first responders about experiences of unlawful and harmful workplace conduct that had not been believed by Ambulance Victoria or had been left unresolved”.

“We recommended the establishment of a restorative engagement scheme as a critical part of work to address past harms and to start to rebuild trust within the organisation,” Allen said.

The scheme will be designed by the Department of Justice and Community Safety over the next six months with input from employees, volunteers, unions, professional associations and the Department of Health. Ambulance Victoria will not be involved in its design.

Ro Allen, pictured here in March 2022, says the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission recommended the establishment of a restorative engagement scheme.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jane Miller said the initiative would allow people who had been harmed to share the impact of their experiences and heal.

“It will also enable us to deliver a better future for everyone who works or volunteers at Ambulance Victoria,” she said. “Importantly, it will allow us to reflect on how we can restore trust, reconnect and help those individuals to recover.”

The state government has invested $8 million in fulfilling the recommendations of the Commission, including an overhaul of the complaints system and establishing a new division in Ambulance Victoria to improve workplace equality.

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